i am 27. i had no idea i was pregnant. i was still getting a period. then all of a sudden, i didn't for a month. i took 5 pregnancy tests and they all came back positive. i told my boyfriend, who i live with later that day. he was scared but happy because he didn't know what we were going to do.

i could not believe how ignorant i had acted in thinking "it will never happen to me." at 20 years old and a junior in college, i found out i was pregnant. it did not hit me until i went to my university's health center where it was confirmed.

i had an abortion at 16 which i paid for with my own money.

i learned i was pregnant in november of 2013. at the time i was a full-time student at reed college in portland, studying latin and greek as a classics major.

after eight months of long-distance relationship i saw my partner, whom i had been on and off for the previous three years.

i am 53, and the proud mother of 3 children, who were planned and born when i was ready to become a parent. at 17 in my senior year of high school, and after i found out i was accepted to a college, i became pregnant.